A Few Gorgeous Privateer Shots Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It's been a busy week so our regular news posting has been disrupted slightly. So today we're going to borrow a bit of Wedge's recent screen grabbing. With the help of MyJEMM, Wedge snapped these familiar Privateer planetside locales in their original 320x200 glory. At least for me, these small little screenshots bring back a ton of memories. If you have Windowx 95/98/ME, you can run Privateer with MyJEMM here. If you have XP and a powerful computer, Darkmage says Connectix's virtual PC software might work.
These images bring back memories for you too? You can discuss them at Crius here.

Seattle to Open a Sci-Fi Museum Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Seattle is home to a number of filthy rich people who do neat stuff like this. Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen will be expanding the Experience Music Project to house the world's first science fiction museum. I'm not sure how that meshes with Joe Garrity's decade-old Origin Museum, but I'll leave that for the historians to sort out later. The Science Fiction Experience will open in 2004 with many different types of rare and exotic science fiction memorabilia. If you happen to know anyone associated with this project, don't hesitate to let them know we're more than willing to contribute to ensure Wing Commander is represented. I might have to do some local inquiring myself. CNN recently wrote an article on the upcoming museum here.
Flanked by science fiction props such as Captain Kirk's original command chair from the "Star Trek" television series, classic science fiction books and movie banners, Allen said the $20 million non-profit endeavor would provide "entertaining and thought-provoking exhibits" for visitors... Among the items on display will be a complete set of autographed first editions of the Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov, a collection of "Astounding Science Fiction" magazines and artwork depicting the future.

Holding the Line Chapters 156 and 157 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Oops. Raptor forgot to send us a HTL chapter last week. The good news is you get two this week instead! Here's Raptor:
Hey all, Raptor here.

For some reason I can't fathom (except perhaps that I'm getting forgetful in my old age), I didn't get around to sending the last HTL chapter we published to the CIC. The good news though, is that you get a double header this week. We start the HTL marathon with Part 17 of the Tiger Hunt series, which follows the Border Worlds pilots who have been drawing the enemy fleet's fire in the Loki system. They escaped the debris field in the last chapter, but they can't afford to relax just yet. This story is written by yours truly, so please send any and all comments back to me.

The story is at: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/...

HTL continues with Scraps of Honour 12, a four part story that follows the Border Worlds reserve units in Nifelhiem as they prepare for the big showdown. As you may remember, the reserve groups held a Valentine's day ball on February 14th, their last chance to cut loose before the expected arrival of the main fleet. This story picks up from there, and is written by Nick "Chaeronea" Deane. Please send any and all comments to him at chaeronea@bigpond.com, not to me.

The story is at: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/...

Best, Raptor

A Pair of Prophecy Points Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Vance was the first person to point out that GameSpot has done a formal "first look" at Prophecy Advance. It's all information that has been publicly available for months, but GameSpot is such a large site that plenty of new viewers should see it now. You can find the GameSpot preview here.

Ed tipped us off about the latest IGN Pocket mailbag. Someone asked about the Prophecy launch date, and IGN confirmed what we've heard about the game entering manufacturing. You can find that one here.

It ships in the middle of May. The cartridges are being manufactured as I write this.

No Launch Party Today Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

In case you didn't get the memo, we've pushed back the Prophecy Launch Party a bit. It was previously scheduled for today. We still plan to hold it shortly after the game ships, possibly in late May. As always, you're welcome to stop by #Wingnut when there isn't a special event going on.

Destination Showing at E3 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Justin noticed that Prophecy publisher Destination Software will be exhibiting at E3 this year. We might end up getting you a first look from the convention floor if the game hasn't shipped by mid May. E3 2002 was the event where Prophecy was first shown to the media last year.

John Rhys-Davies to Appear at Dragon*Con 2003 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Stephen from BTTF.com let us know that the official DragonCon website updated to list Tom Wilson, and in so doing, he noticed that John Rhys-Davies has also been added to the mix. In addition to playing Paladin in Wing Commander 3 & 4, he played Sallah in Indiana Jones, Professor Arturo in Sliders & Gimli in Lord of the Rings. This will be his second Dragon*Con in three years.
Margaret Weis will also make another visit. She will be there as an accomplished author, though Wing Commander fans will recognize her (and her husband, Don Perrin) as a key player in the creation of the Wing Commander Customizable Card Game. Weis and Perrin have made multiple DC visits over the years. You can find a shot of Wing Commander fans mobbing them last year here.

Amazon Date Jumps Up Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

In an unusual twist, the Amazon.com date for Prophecy Advance has jumped up a month. They are now expecting the game to ship on May 13. Although these dates do seem highly tentative, you have to wonder what information they get to move a date up. You can see for yourself here.

Full Privateer Freelancer Mod in the Works Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

TC and Tolwyn keep reminding me that a number of talented fans are ambitiously trying to pull off a big Privateer mod for Freelancer.
Hello, I'm Bob McDob. You may already know me as the "Account ID" guy, or from wcnews, or "the guy who keeps dying in a Rhino" on the Drakhai server. Anyway, my plan is to make a WIng Commander Privateer Mod for FL.
There is already preliminary work on models, thanks to the Wing Commander Universe mod for the open-source Vega Strike engine. Most of the fighters have been completed, however problems have been encountered regarded capital ships. I understand work is progressing on capital ships in FL, but not enough for them to be totally reliable. Nevertheless, we will proceed.
To summarize: If we can work out a project, and consolidate our efforts and procedures to maximize productivity, we shall be victorious, and maybe I can stop talking like Dilbert's boss.
Information on this project is scattered a lit bit as they're in the process of organizing. The original background info can be found in the Lancers Reactor forum here. Most of their efforts are being organized here. Get in touch with the team if you think you can help!

A Mix of Old and New Prophecy Dates Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Most places have erased their April dates and replaced them with new ETA's about 4-6 weeks out. Everyone seems to continually organize around the same times, so it's amazing that so many coordinated dates have fallen through. At this rate, we may yet be able to get you impressions on the game from E3. In case you missed the earlier note, we have postponed the launch party event.

Wing Commander Academy Still Up Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It's come to our attention that some people out there are selling CDs with the Wing Commander Academy television show burned to them. These aren't going for cheap either. In case some people have missed our menu link, the entire series is available for free in divx form from our mirror generously donated by Lord Nightwalker. Note that the sound may not work with the newest versions of the divx codec, so we have provided the original 3.11 version just in case. Let us know if there's a newer version that still plays sounds. Also don't forget we also have more than just episodes for download. The original Press Kit has been digitized with background info about the series. There has also been some confusion about episode numbering. I'll let LOAF clear that one up.
There's three ways to order the Academy episodes -- production order, order aired and order in which they take place. The 'download links' at the CIC are the order as they originally aired on USA:

Episode 01 - Red & Blue
Episode 02 - The Last One Left
Episode 03 - The Most Delicate Instrument
Episode 04 - Word of Honor
Episode 05 - Lords of the Sky
Episode 06 - Chain of Command
Episode 07 - Expendable
Episode 08 - Recreation
Episode 09 - Walking Wounded
Episode 10 - On Both Your Houses
Episode 11 - Invisible Enemy
Episode 12 - The Price of Victory
Episode 13 - Glory of Sivar

The order in which they 'take place' is as follows:
Episode 01 - Red & Blue
Episode 02 - The Last One Left
Episode 03 - The Most Delicate Instrument
Episode 04 - Word of Honor
Episode 05 - Lords of the Sky
Episode 06 - Expendable
Episode 07 - Chain of Command
Episode 08 - Walking Wounded
Episode 09 - Invisible Enemy
Episode 10 - Recreation
Episode 11 - On Both Your Houses
Episode 12 - The Price of Victory
Episode 13 - Glory of Sivar

I don't have a copy of the production order handy at work, but I *believe* the only difference between as-produced and as-aired was that "Word of Honor" and "Lords of the Sky" were swapped.

Blacklance Boards Back Up Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The BlackLance.org community boards are back up for those who missed them. If you haven't followed the activities of the Blacke Lance club, they're a friendly and inviting group that roleplays, writes stores and plans to undertake play-by-email adventures. You can find more about them here.

Happy CIC Easter! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

I hope people of all races and religions can take a moment today to rest and join the CIC as we celebrate the birth of the Easter bunny.

Treasure Planet/Wing Commander Crossover by HoTT Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Our resident expert at taking Disney pictures and adding Wing Commander stuff to them has done it again.
Was tinkering with some .tga files in a PC game I have, "Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon", by Barking Dog Studios. It's actually a pretty good game. Shame that they didn't have any moding tools to go with the game. Anywho, Disney's "Treasure Planet" might be considered their equivalent of the Wing Commander movie. But I still liked it. And the game, and I hope you all like the new... improvement I've made for this game. ;-)

Retailers Begin Not Shipping Prophecy Advance.. Again Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Sorry to run you in circles once again, but after a week of uncertainty, it appears the dates have shifted. Kaybee has changed their listing to "Coming Soon" and Amazon has done similarly. Unfortunately this occurs with a certain portion of all Gameboy Advance games, especially ones that don't require a timely launch. In light of this, it looks like we'll probably be pushing back the Launch Party and dal.net move. The European publisher's website, Take2, has changed their listing to May 2003. They may also have a new (or at least little seen) screenshot in their main gallery there.

MyJEMM & Windows XP Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Mr. Ridge answered one of the more common questions about MyJEMM running on Windows XP.
...it would require completely different code than what MyJEMM uses on Windows 95/98/ME. I don't think it's even possible to extend NTVDM to allow it, it would probably require writting an NTVDM clone from scratch or modifying something like DOSBox to run it.
Future Armada support is still up in the air at this time.

Where would you like to live? Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Digging way back into our archive of poll suggestions, Peter Griffin came up the idea for favorite Wing Commander planet. Where would you like to live? Originally our list of choices was a bit more obscure, so if there are planets on there that you don't recognize it's time for a refresher! Here's our old poll results.

XBox wins it! If it utilized XBox Live, I'd have to quit my job. The Quine 4000 was Grayson Burrows' PDA.

Prinze To Leave Acting Business Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The Associated Press is reporting a startling revelation from Freddie Prinze Jr..
RADNOR, Pa. (AP) -- Freddie Prinze Jr. says he plans to stop acting eventually to pursue a writing career. "I'm going to stop acting in the next few years because it's just too weird," Prinze says in the April 19 issue of TV Guide. "You have to constantly be willing to live in a scary, emotional place, which is why actors are in therapy all the time." Prinze has acted in such films as "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Scooby-Doo" and is now shooting the sequel to the latter opposite wife Sarah Michelle Gellar. But in the future, he plans to turn his efforts to writing and has already written one episode of the TV series "Mutant X" that will air this month. "People don't think I can construct a sentence, let alone write a script," he said.
I guess any future Wing Commander film projects will have to find a new actor, at least eventually.

Still Waiting & Wondering Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

As of this writing Kaybee still hasn't changed their listing for Prophecy Advance. They still list it as shipping April 16 here, which is a good and bad thing. It's good news that a release date has come without being pushed back.. but where is the game? We'll let you know as soon as we find out. If you're still thinking about ordering, we've still got this deal set up with Amazon.com as mentioned here. Clicking and ordering here or on the right menu link will help us fund CIC giveaways at events such as the Prophecy Launch Party coming up next week.

MyJemm Site Up & Additional Observations Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

If you didn't catch it earlier, Ross Ridge's homepage should be in working order now. His MyJEMM area here also features icons that you can use while playing Privateer in Windows (95/98/ME). Karl Frank suggested this additional tip.
myjemm _DOES_ work with the disk version of Privateer, but it is slightly more complicated to run it:

myjemm PRIVATER.EXE
starts P1

myjemm PRSO.EXE
starts RF

So to recap, this program allows you to run the disk and CD versions of Privateer 1 and Righteous Fire in Windows 95/98/ME. If you have 2000/XP, you'll simply get an error message. Strike Commander, Armada and Proving Grounds do not work because their implementation of JEMM is slightly different. If you're having problems getting your soundcard or joystick to work, check out Crius.net.

Edit: The newest version of MyJEMM is 1.4. Download it here.

Wing Commander Aces Turn Eight Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The longest running active Wing Commander Club, the WC Aces turned eight years old this April 15. I'll leave it to one of the club's founders to sum it up.
It's April 15, 2003

I Just want to wish every member a Happy Aniversary. This club's lasted 8 years now to the date and I hope it continues to last and hold interest for WC gamers, designers and writers worldwide.

We've got a hell of a history, legacy and hopefully a hell of a future. I'll try to be on ICQ and AOL instant msg a lot today to answer questions about the founding of the club and the early history for those who don't know about it and have questions....and for the Aces vets who want to talk war stories. :)

Another note though...... I'd like to dedicate this aniversary to one of our strongest members....... Raptor. He's the man who's busted his ass over the years to keep things together here and keep the club functioning. He's HTL coordinator, mailing list manager, advisor for the new guys and friend to everybody. I think on this occaision he deserves some kudos as well as the admiration and respect of everyone on the list he maintains so damn well.

Please make a following post to his honor and give this guy a toast.

CHEERS!

Congratulations! When I was a new kid in the Wing Commander scene in 1995 & 1996 I can remember being awed by this massive organization of Wing Commander fans. You weren't cool unless you had "WCA-" before your name. I'll be looking forward to wishing them another happy birthday next year. You can find the Acenet Posting Board here.

Big Windows Privateer Breakthrough Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Right after I upgrade to XP, the Wing Commander community goes and figures out a way to get the original Wing Commander Privateer running in Windows 9x/ME. As long as I've been doing Wing Commander stuff online, people have wanted to play P1 in Windows. Until this historic day, we've always told them there was absolutely no way. Karl Frank tipped us off about Ross Ridge's work into simulating the JEMM environment in Windows sufficiently for Privateer to run. Execution is simple. Unzip the downloadable to the Privateer directory and go. Check the readme file for details. So far this has only been tested with Privateer CD (and Righteous Fire), but it may work for other versions or games, though with mixed results. Sound compatibility issues seem to be a problem, but with some work many problems can be fixed. It's still very much a work in progress kind of deal, but this is great news for people who've been nostalgic for some good old Gemini Sector action! You can find Ross Ridge's JEMM walkthrough page here. His server has been experiencing some problems, so the page might not be up right now. It's worth a bookmark to check later. We've mirrored his MyJEMM file here just in case.
MyJEMM is a public domain utility for running the game Privateer under Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows ME. It does not work with Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP. MyJEMM works by emulating under Windows the JEMM memory manager used by Privateer...
It even introduces support of USB joysticks and certain previously Windows only soundcards! Download MyJEMM here.

Edit: The newest version of MyJEMM is 1.4. Download it here.

Eve Online Taking Beta Signups Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Eve Online is a massively multiplayer space sim we really haven't given much attention to. It's scheduled to be released within the next few months, and they've just entered one of their final beta phases. If you're looking for a decent looking space sim with really amazing visuals, a massive persistent universe and somewhat more traditional flight control, Eve Online might be for you. The beta is free, and they are accepting applications now. You can find apply here.

Nintendo Brand Enhanced GBA SP Battery Coming Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Haesslich let us know that Nintendo will be releasing a special battery upgrade for its amazing new Gameboy Advance SP. The standard lithium ion battery current lets players play for 10 hours with the light on or 18 without. The uprated model will deliver about 18 hours of lit play and some 30 unlit. That's a lot of Prophecy time! It hits Japan next month for roughly $16. GamesIndustry.biz has an article on it here.

Have you been to WC3D lately? Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Over the last couple months the people from WC3D have revamped and merged various Wing Commander 3D related resources together into their current form. If you're into the mod scene or 3D art, there's some neat things for you here. Many different ships from the WC universe have been recreated in popular 3D program formats for your consumption. Even if you've never been into this sort of thing before, there are some beautiful WC designs to check out throughout the site. It's amazing to see what fans can do.
Anyway, I already announced in WC CIC forums that I'm merging the WC3D and WCMDF. Well, this is finished: I've added all models that were futured by WCMDF, except for several ones, that were too incomplete or too buggy. I have several great models to add. Happy Downloading!
You can visit WC3D here.

E3 Convention Hits in May Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Next month my homie JustinS and I will be representing the CIC at E3. You might recall that it was at E3 last year when Prophecy Advance was announced. Could lightning strike twice? Probably not, but it should be neat nonetheless. And hey, if some crazy new WC development occurs, we'll be there to bring it to you first hand. If there's any Wing Commander people around Los Angeles with spare time around mid May, drop us a line and maybe we can hang out.

New SETI@Home Version Availabe Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The first new SETI@Home version to come out in what seems like years surfaced last week. Apparently it's in response to some new nasty exploit. If you haven't upgraded yet, we recommend you do so ASAP. You can find version 3.08 here. If you're not familiar with the CIC's efforts to locate extraterrestrial life, SETI@Home lets regular people automatically sift through telescope data for strong astral signals with idle computer time. You can find details on how to join Team WCNews' efforts in our SETI section here and see how the team is doing here. Our team member Eclipse is also the creator of a very useful utility for working on multiple units. You can find information on his SetiBuffer program here.

WCPolaroids: Maniac (4/12) Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Thank god Maniac doesn't actually have blonde highlighted hair in Prophecy. I'd like to have seen the scene where Hawk was supposed to fly up, out and away from the briefing room too.

New Prophecy Screenshots Released Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Tex in #Wingnut noticed that ComputersAndVideoGames.com has released their hands-on preview of Prophecy. They have some pretty nice things to say and show us a new ship that is probably the Marine LC. I guess we'll know for sure soon enough. The gameplay video they have available for download seems to be new too. You can read the preview and everything else here.
So how does it play? Can it match the PC space action thrills on a GBA? Well, it uses the famed Blue Roses 3D engine which holds its own against other attempted 3D games on the handheld, but if you're expecting a nippy console-like experience you may find it wanting - but only slightly - this is the essence of the game and it handles fine.
That pretty much echos the sentiment most previewers have had so far.

Release Date Roundup Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Here's a summary of the listed release dates for Prophecy Advance. These do seem rather credible, though things are always subject to change. Keep in mind that these are the shipping dates. You'd get the game from an online retailer the next day if you paid for overnight shipping. Most stores would get these one to three days after the ship date. Destination is publishing the game in the US and Take2 is doing so in Europe. While there may be slight differences in packaging because of this, both games can be played in systems from any region.

CIC Amazon Link Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Hey, you might have noticed to your right we have a link to the Amazon.com preorder page for Prophecy. We were planning to find the best deal and link it from the menu anyway, so the Amazon Associates Thing was a coincidental bonus. Right now they're offerring the game for 33% off for a price of $19.99 plus shipping. If you click on our menu link and follow it through to your checkout and purchase, we get like a dollar. If you were planning to order one online, and don't have a problem with Amazon, that's where we'd recommend you go. We'll let you know if we find a better deal. With the game mysteriously dropping off the EB release list, this is where I'll be ordering most of my copies. You can click the box shot on our right menu or here.

Prophecy Launch Party in Two Weeks Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

As it stands, things still look good for Saturday, April 26, for our Prophecy Launch Party in #Wingnut. We plan to get together at 7:00 pm Eastern (4:00 pm Pacific and 11:00 pm Greenwich). Typically we count down to a specific time, arbitrarily one hour later, and call that zero hour. For the duration of the event we'll be giving away door prizes including a couple Game Boy Advances (specifically near "zero hour") and copies of Prophecy. There will also be various other WC related prizes up for grabs. Hope to see you there! Please email us or ask at Crius if you have any questions about getting on irc. Because of the server capacity of our current irc.craplink.net, we'll probably be using animals.dal.net #Wingnut for this event.

WCPolaroids: Maniac (2/12) Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

I mean, I almost feel sorry for the guy 'cause he's flying against the Maniac. NOT! But anyway. So, he pulls a break right in front of me, right? Bam! Cat on my right? Dust! All right. Wingman doesn't even see me, okay? Boom! Boom! Boom! Kitty litter.

Tom Wilson to Appear at DragonCon 2003! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Breaking News: BTTF.com has announced that Tom Wilson will be attending this year's DragonCon convention. Wilson played Todd "Maniac" Marshall in Wing Commander 3, 4, Prophecy and the Academy animated series. His likeness is also featured in the customizable card game. Since DragonCon is where we conduct our annual Wing Commander fan gathering, we couldn't be more excited! He'll be appearing in the Walk of Fame area on Saturday and Sunday, August 30 and 31. If you were on the fence about coming, perhaps this will help you make up your mind. We're currently in the process of securing hotels, so email us now if you're thinking about meeting us there.
Wilson will make his first and only scheduled 2003 convention appearance at the Atlanta, Georgia event, appearing on Saturday, August 30th and Sunday, August 31st to meet & greet his fans and to sign autographs in the BTTF.com-sponsored booth located in the show's “Walk of Fame” area. Although unconfirmed at press time, Wilson is also expected to appear briefly on Friday, August 29th.
A big thanks to BTTF.com for sponsoring this event and tipping us off! You can find the full announcement here.

Holding The Line Chapter 155 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

If you've missed out on the other 154 chapters of Holding the Line, now is a good time to catch up since the archives are now up to date. Here's Raptor with the latest:
Hey all, Raptor here.

HTL continues with Part 16 of the Tiger Hunt series, which follows the Border Worlds carriers fighting a diversionary action in Loki. As you saw in the last chapter, the Valkyrie pilots were exhausted, running low on missiles, and quickly being worn down by enemy attacks. After nearly three days of constant fighting, they're badly in need of a reprieve. This chapter picks up from there. It's written buy yours truly, so please send any and comments back to me.

The story is at: http://htl.solsector.net/loki60.htm

Our archives at Solsector have finally had a badly needed update, and are now current with all our published stories, including this one. You can check them out at: http://htl.solsector.net/

Best, Raptor

Tentative Prophecy Launch Party Date Set Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Since the April 16 US ship date for Prophecy Advance seems the most credible so far, we've tentatively set the Launch Party for Saturday, April 26, 2003 in #Wingnut. This will time nicely with the expected April 25 launch date in Europe and allow us time to ensure that the game actually ships midmonth. The standard time for CIC irc events is 7:00 pm Eastern (4:00 pm Pacific and 11:00 pm Greenwich). We'll be providing more information as we get closer, but we wanted to throw out that date to pencil in on your calendars. We may even be testing out dal.net again since craplink may not sustain the expected traffic. More info to come soon.

WCPolaroids: Maniac (1/12) Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

To celebrate the Tom Wilson DragonCon announcement, today we kick off a set of Maniac polaroids from the set of Wing Commander Prophecy.

Prophecy Advance Makes IGN Top 25 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

IGN has prepared a list highlighting the top twenty-five GBA games to watch in 2003. Unsurprisingly since IGN was the one to break the announcement of Prophecy Advance, Wing Commander is appropriately represented.
Raylight Studio's first official game to use its proprietary Blue Roses 3D engine is this Game Boy Advance port of the popular PC game. The result is an accurate port that looks and plays like the original title, with all the cutscenes removed in favor of lots and lots and lots of text.
They also highlight the credible April 16 release date. You can find the full feature here.

April Fools Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

For the first time, we feel it necessary to explicitly point out that our previous set of updates come from the less-than-real department. Check the date. Forty-eight hours later, we're still getting a constant stream of questions and concerns from people, so it's time to set things straight. If you thought CIC Complete was real don't feel silly, because dozens of people sent us legitimate requests for billing and/or concerns about what to do if they didn't have a credit card. If that many people were ready to pay, just imagine how many believed but declined to fork out any cash. We actually want to thank people for the surprising response. Although we have no intention of moving to a pay service, it's reassuring to us (and it should be reassuring to you) that the amount of support we got for the fake CIC Complete would actually appear to be enough to run the CIC in more or less regular form. In additional to the number of real questions we got about the program, some of what we published on April 1 actually was real. TC's WC shooter was a real work-in-progress, and the Boston Pizza ad actually showed up at our door mistakenly a few weeks back. We now return you to your regularly scheduled CIC updates.

Impressive Q1 2003 Data Shows Community Strength Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

With April under way, we've taken a step back to analyze our traffic and your interest in Wing Commander over the last three months. March 2003 was our busiest month in at least a few years, and if the current trends continue, 2003 will be our busiest year ever. With Prophecy Advance a matter of weeks away, this has already been an exciting year. I have no doubt there'll be some interesting surprises along the way. We'll be here to let you know what happens. Thanks for visiting.

Announcing CIC Complete Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We here at the CIC have struggled to bring you the best in Wing Commander related news and services for the last five years. For those of you who have followed our efforts, there have been difficulties paying for our server and we've had to make numerous cutbacks. Until now, we've been happy to do so for free. But the internet bubble has burst. With the rising costs of maintaining the site, it's time to move into the next phase of our evolution. With that, we present to you CIC Complete! For the low introductory price of $20 per year, Wing Commander fans will have complete access to the following goodies and more.
  • Enjoy all of the CIC's wonderful sections in technicolor! Full unblocked access to sections like the Ships Database and Fan Directory!
  • No adverts! You'll be helping us feed our starving children and not have someone screaming at you to buy something! Browse Crius.net popup-free!
  • You get to place votes on our exciting new game - CIC Forums Survivor! Who'll get banned next? You decide!
  • Exclusive access to our Wing Commander Encyclopedia! (When it's done[tm])
  • Hadrian will help you with your fan project which you've been promising to complete for the past three years!
  • Be eligible to enter our monthly drawing for a fabulous prize!
  • Privileged access to ChrisReid's supersoaker collection, ace-1's music collection, Cpl Hades' anime collection and LOAF's creepy Chinese game collection!
This will allow us to expand and bring even better things to you in the future. Hopefully everyone is as excited as we are. Paypal and all major credit cards accepted.. SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

CIC Staff Banned From DragonCon Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Apparently somebody found where we hid the bodies (or CDs from destroyed Wing Commander ripoffs)! DragonCon officials have circulated the following photo to local police and authorities to be on the lookout for certain mischievous staff members of the Wing Commander CIC. Their list of grievances include, but are not limited to: obscene acts against innocent space sims, use of hotel property in destructive ways, commandeering public resources, heckling innocent authors, leering at porn stars, misusing lighting products, "cruising" the streets of downtown Atlanta for periods up to 9 hours, harassment and assault of The Flaming Carrot, & being too pale for our own good. Looks like we'll be crashing the party instead of visiting it this year. JOIN CIC COMPLETE!

First Freelancer 2 Story Elements Leaked Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

You heard it first here everybody. Our secret sources have revealed the first tiny bits and pieces about the script for the sequel to Microsoft's Freelancer. Here's what we've seen so far.
::TRENT WALKS INTO THE MANHATTAN BAR::
Kun'zo Jane: "Hey, I don't know you.. are you new here?"
Edison Trent: "Nope."
Kun'zo Jane: "Uhh.. oh. Well, then you know we don't own this place, but we have an understanding with the people who do.
Edison Trent: "Uh-huh.."
::FADE OUT TO MUSIC::
There you have it! I can't wait. With over 5,000 unique NPC's this time around, the universe will be as vibrant and diverse as ever. JOIN CIC COMPLETE!

Concrete Proof of Blair's Return? Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Just minutes ago, brand new Forums poster Blair4523634222 posted startling new evidence about a potential new WC project. Tentatively titled "Blair's Return," so far it does look convincing. Utilizing plot twists that forum posters have been begging for for years, have our prayers finally been answered? The CIC has secured an exclusive screenshot as well.
IN THE GAME YOU PLAY THE PART OF SPACE MARSHAL GEOFFRY TOLWYN, BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE BY THE KILRATHI TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE NEPHILUM. IN YOUR SPACE FIGHTER YOU INFILTRAET ENEMY SPACE AND FIND A PRISON PLANET. ON IT ARE MANY HUMANS, ONE IS COMMODOER CHRISTOPHER BLAIR. TOGETHER YOU FLY AWAY BACK TO THE AXIUS STATION WHERE YOUR BASE IS. WHEN YOU ARRIVED THERE, CHRISTOPHER BLAIR GOES CRAZY. *HE IS CONTROLLED BY THE NEPHILIM!!!!!!!*
You can see for yourself (SPOILER WARNING) here. JOIN CIC COMPLETE!

Famous Anniversary Celebrated Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Today marks the sixth anniversary of the day when the universe united in their hatred of Dan "Akkbar" Hardwicke. Those too young to remember have no doubt heard the terrible stories of his evil wraith, and those who haven't are better off for it. Here's to you Akk. JOIN CIC COMPLETE!

WCPolaroids: Maestro (11/12) Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Here we see that Maestro is happy because EA gave him a very generous wage. JOIN CIC COMPLETE!
NOTE:The movements of those reporting for the CIC are restricted and their reports are monitored by EA. Today's news stories were written in accordance with EA ground rules allowing so-called fan site reporting, in which internet journalists are left to fend for themselves. Among the rules accepted by all participating news organizations is an agreement not to disclose sensitive operational details.

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